Confessions of a chatoholic

This is another guest appearance from the 'Online Nemesis'. I feel bad that I did not write this in the first place ;). But I guess its a good thing that it comes from a better writer to express the feelings of my kind.

Confessions of a Chatoholic!

It' a part of my life, for better or for worse,

To my family it seemed, like an inexorable curse,

It's to the world of chatting, that I dedicate this verse

Let me try and keep it, short sweet and terse

It’s a part of our existence, integral to our life,

A form of socializing, which has lately become so rife

Helps you network with the world around or reconnect with your past

Or often build relationships, which for years to come shall last

An escape from the boredom, a break from the mundane

Often comes in form of a chat, which just might be very inane

Be it Yahoo!, MSN, Facebook or our very own Gmail

Always a boon to the average Joe, trying to woo a female

It helps you transcend boundaries, making geography a part of history

Getting in touch with a distant one, is no more a shrouded mystery

Though abundant with its advantages, it’s an addiction like any other

Takes time to recover from it and get back to being sober

A word of caution I must add here, for this virtual outlet for fun

Let this not enslave you and decide how your life shall run!

- Online Nemesis!

Impressions

This one is inspired by a poem I dedicated to all my cousins. As I wrote that poem and started describing each person I realized that as long as I have known these people there are many sides of them I am surely not aware of. My perception of them is most certainly not whole.

With every person you meet, this is a norm.
Some sort of impression they continuously form.

A false impression is not difficult to make.
This illusion however can easily break.
Some impression are made over a while,

With each one, people make your file.
Other impressions you never intend.
Up or down, regardless, your perception will bend.

With everyone on your social chart,
you share but only a part.
In every case, no matter your role,
Rarely do you share your whole.

Since our data on someone is never complete,
Never discard them without a beat.

Words of Optimus Prime, I cannot Deny.
When it comes to people,
there is always more than meets the eye

First time

This one is for first times ;)

For every experience worth its dime,
nothing beats the feeling of the first time.
We are usually nervous with worry,
or just excited and in a hurry


If it were my first date with a girl,
I would try my best to make her swirl.
If it were my first tooth to fall,
I would celebrate with icecream down the hall.
If it were about my very first ride,
I would have someone special by my side.
If it were the first verse I ever wrote,
A jubilant jiggle would have my vote.

But sadly this is none of those.
Something important - naah!! not even close.
Still I lie awake the night before,
Wishing I could just sleep and snore.

You might ponder my need to rhyme,
Alas! this first is always a stressful time.
It ain't the first girl or ride or some other life's gem.
Its just simply the first exam of the sem. ;)

Approval

In response to a discussion I am part of on google wave. And yes its good to finally write something after a long while. What can I say with college starting the thoughts are consumed with course work and daily chores and the mind just doesn't take those idle walks anymore.

These set of emotions we all face,
No matter our position in life's race.
We could be stubbornly strong or mildly meek,
Some sort of approval we all seek

It could be an opinion on a dress,
or reaction to academic success.
Appreciation of the way we look,
or understanding of a different path we took.

We might think everyone is evaluating how we fare,

But really most of them don't even care.

Universal approval is a foolhardy quest,
Its like attempting an unpassable test
The right way is but only one
To not worry about everyone

But that is easier said than done
Preached by all practiced by almost none

You could define a smaller set called 'everyone'
Within this set you can worry about each one
This set should have people you think are the best,
trust me it will take care of the rest.

Online Friend Spotting

Dedicated to all those special people who bear the brunt of the digital nuisance called 'rohandargad@gmail.com' ;).

Online Friend Spotting

While on online chat,
its easy to spot a friend.
Need not pick names from a hat
Seldom in the background they blend

Everytime you feel bleak,
these are the people you seek
To readily share your fun,
first to them you run

Their absence is the only one you miss
Their presence is like instant bliss

No greeting or farewells you need
For hours they pay you heed

To actually see you,
They only need your word
Without smiley's, your feelings are heard

Yet another day at the office

This one is written by a friend, As you will realise its a lot better than any of mine and the said friend should start doing this themselves. But until they do, its an absolute pleasure to host their work over here.

Yet another day at the office

Yet another day at the office,

my imagination starts to flutter,

‘Escapism’, as some might call it,

my heart longs to flee the clutter!

Staring at my laptop screen,

my work seems so very drag,

My jaded mind is ignited,

though it’s hardly worth the brag!

I wish I were home,

 with nothing to do but to relax, unwind and laze,

And my day would just pass by

with this stupor in a dreamy haze

Thinking about my life,

it seems so humdrum and workaday

For a moment then I wonder

‘Could it really be any other way’??

Looking at my coworkers,

with their sincerity personified face

I think ‘is it just me?’

and can hardly conceal the grimace!

My mind wanders some more,

is it a purpose it’s trying to find?

Or is it just another way

to escape the usual grind?

As I keep pondering about my life,

 a mail pops in to interject,

I wonder to myself,

will it cause me any deject!

It’s my sup who reminds me

of status reports and daily updates

‘Keep your cool and be yourself’, I tell myself,

no matter where life takes!

 - My Online Nemesis

Lectures

This is a tribute to all my lectures, specially those that leave me bored. I hope this one is atleast worth a laugh when I sit in one of those boring courses again.


Lectures

It was a bright and clear day
On a ever repeating thursday
Too bad I had to be in class,
wishing I could give it a pass.

Sometimes courses we have to take,
our interest in which is completely fake
The prof was playing his boring part
His talks leave you completely out of sort

I was busy with online chat
I know I sound like a brat

While I was checking for new downloads
He was talking about cryptographic codes

Suddenly, I heard a familiar word
My treacherous hand, flew up like a bird
Everyone was looking at me
Had to give them something to see

Made a response on the go,
recalling something I read long ago
Luckily my answer was right
Good thing it wasn't an embarrasing sight

The prof seemed happy with me
I just hope he leaves me be.

An ode to Rohannets

As I keep telling my friends, the best part about this blog has been not discovering my own talents but discovering the same in my friends. This one is from a friend and I thank them with a few words to start

Of all the ones I have written
This one is special by far
My poems have somebody smitten
Their own skill being above par


An Ode to Rohannets

For your poems which are so well written
I can help, but be smitten!

A talent of yours that was for years in the hide
I make my 'not so nice' comments, knowing you mind the chide

You should continue with your poetry and me with my critique
That makes our friendship so very unique

Never mind my criticism, I know you write from the heart
And blogging so well everyday is no less than an art!


 - Your Online Nemesis!

Youtube

This one is dedicated to that special part of my life, without whom life would be.... well I cant even imagine how it would be.

Youtube

We are all familiar with the link
Some even teach us how to think

We have all given it a look
for gods sake it even shows how to cook
It relaxes you with an old song
we all have playlists that are just too long
You can learn to make a tie
Some people look as if they are plain high

You can post videos of your own
You could even make some money
The need for hits might seem looney
Ohh but getting them is sweet as honey

If youtube were a living thing
It would be richer than a king
It has a place, right in my core
Without it, life would be such a chore.

New Beginnings

This is an adaptation to the original I dedicate to a dear friend who is starting a new phase in life. I hope & wish and know she will do great.

New Beginnings

Every once a while in life,
you will start something new.
You should be in minimal strife,
I kid you not its true.

Seldom, new may not be what you want,
But it could just be what you need.
Sometimes, the choice of new might haunt,
But its just a scratch, no bleed.

When your are starting something new,
May you have luck, like is bestowed on a select few.

You maybe nervous and worried,
But no need to keep those feelings buried.
You need to be a certain degree of bold,
to leave the comfort of the old.

You may also be excited and giddy,
that kind of attitude, sure is handy.
But most of all, you want to be happy,
Otherwise the whole endeavor will be useless and crappy.

Joy of Rediscovery

This thought I had as soon as I had finished my first verse. I had always enjoyed reading poetry as a kid. Before school started every year, I always read the English book in advance. As much as I enjoyed the reads I never could manage to write them myself. Years later on vacation in DC, when I purchased a book on poems, I was suddenly struck with the same kiddish delight. Twelve days down the line, it is still making me smile. Maybe it was the right time to turn to my old hobby, maybe I was better able to write. But it definitely made me think. There are so many other things I loved as a kid. Maybe now I could enjoy them even more. Not only enjoy the joy it brought, but take it to another level too. :)


Joy of Rediscovery

For young adults on the block,
bored and with time to burn.
Perhaps you should turn back the clock,
and turn to the kid, who always had his fun.

It could be riding a bike,
or dancing like a foolish tyke.
It might be an old cartoon,
or singing like a bufoon.
It could be a forgotten game,
or old books that are still the same.

Though sense this idea might lack,
it could bring some good times back.

We constantly change with time.
New skills we learn, while on life's climb.
Giving something old a try,
might just be worth your dime.

This theory may not always be right,
But you need to trust the kid inside.
Carefree and joyous, it was doing something right.
Joy might just find you, on your blindside.

Im...Perfection

This one is dedicated to a dear friend who is the first one to request :)

Foreward
This is my first request
I knew I couldn't wait
I started at the earliest
Before it got too late :)


Im... Perfection
It was a sunday like any other
I was chatting with a friend
We were talking about films
As is our usual trend

We were talking about perfection
She said perfect characters were fake
I said I respectfully diasagree
It depends completely on your take

Perfection is a complex term
It is hard to get the gist
To be perfect in the long term
You have to check of a list

The list is never the same
So the concept of common perfect is lame
The list always has its flaws
Making the imperfect perfect by law

Whats perfect for one is not for some
Thus rendering the discussion moot
But who cares, talking to a dear friend
Has, is and always will be a hoot.

Unfinished Business.......

This Poem is dedicated to a dear friend who has been struggling with the guilt of unfinished work and call to others who are similarly plagued.

Everyday, for hundreds of jobs that are done
there are still plenty that are left undone

That book you never read
That friend you never made
That class you never took
That dish you wanted to cook
That girl you wanted to date
That vacation you wanted to take

As a mountain of these jobs is built
It keeps adding to your guilt

To complete them you need positive intent
Doing so is the only way to be content

Pay heed to these pedestrian words, don't wait
Get up and finish what's undone, least its too late

The Email Analogy

A random thought that went down as a facebook status which an hour later became this :)

Checking my mail one day,
I was suddenly struck by a thought
Looking at my life I thought
how much like a inbox it was
Going into overdrive my mind sought
similarities that would prove my thought

Emails became experiences
Some I never opened from fear or ignorance
Some I never deleted from glory or reverence

Drafts became my thoughts
Some of them I wrote in all
but never had the courage to send
Some of them I hardly checked
But sent them without thinking they would offend

Labels became groups
Just like sorting emails I had
sorted people in my life
Just like the emails in a inbox I had
prioritized the important people in life.

Now as I proceed to make fun of my geeky mind
It jumps uncaringly with joys of the creative kind

The Solo Vacation conclusions

It is a good week after the conclusion of my first solo trip that I write this. The logic was that maybe after a week most of the euphoria from all the fun I had would have died down and I can talk about it in a rational and objective fashion. But, obviously I was wrong. No matter how insignificant this small trip was in the grand scheme of things it was still an unforgettable experience for me. It has definitely left a mark on me. Has inspired me to think about many more. But the objective of this post is not to advertise the joys of traveling alone, its merely state the thoughts of someone who enjoyed it beyond his expectations. To see if I had the same fun as people who travel alone usually do. To maybe make someone see that its not that crazy or bad as they think. To maybe appease the apprehensions of people who have been thinking about it but have never tried it.

I will start with the reactions I had received when I had first suggested my plans. I got encouragement. Some were overjoyed that I was trying it. Some were glad for me but would never think about it themselves. The family thought I had no friends ;) . Most thought it was an absurd and crazy idea. To most of them I can now smugly say that atleast I have tried both so as to give an educated opinion. But I would be lying if I said that my friends opinions do not matter to me. The majority of negative reaction did fill me up with little apprehension. 'Little' being the operative word here. Finally it was the excitement and the novelty of the experience that had won over.

On my very first day itself, in the hostel, one thing that became apparent was that traveling alone wasn't a big deal after all. People of every conceivable nationality were present, flitting in and out, many of them traveling alone. you would go to breakfast every morning and see a new set of 30 people in the room. On my first breakfast I was approached by a Japanese studying in San Diego. After half and hour of pleasant conversation I was pleasantly amused that he wanted my facebook details and I was among the forty others he had noted in a small book. This quirkiness set the tone for the rest of my trip.

It seemed that even the hostel itself was designed to encourage communication. Be it the single long table for taco night when I met a fibbing American or the excruciatingly slow elevator which allowed to get acquainted with a sweet and polite Australian. Or the Wi-fi connection that was only available in the lobby where I met the wordly Chinese who had traveled every continent except the poles.

One of the questions when I talked to everyone that I certainly wanted answered was what they thought about traveling alone. Why do it? What was it about traveling alone that they liked? A working girl from Canada probably gave the best answer. Told me how it was easier this way when you wanted long vacations. You would not have to convince your friends to go around with you to places they rather would not go to. Of course friends would do it for you, but that she said and I agreed would only make it worse for you. On a more selfish note it would save you from going to places you would rather not go. Hey, sue me if I would rather avoid things I don't like. Later after killing my toes in those horrid snow shoes when I used to come back in the evening these words made perfect sense as I declined offers for dinner or a drink outside. My monosyllable interactions with a bunch of Germans only proved that presence of a group only hindered your efforts to socialize and step out of your comfort zone.

For people like myself, who are less prone to talking to strangers, such trips should be made compulsory. For those who can do it easily, you will have an even better time of it. Its like a camping trip that takes away all your material comforts. A trip of this kind takes away your social comfort zone. One problem I had with this arrangement was that without a friend nearby when you see a spectacular sight during your travels you would not have anyone to turn too and say WOW. But as I realized, when staring dumbfounded at the ceiling of the  main reading room of the library of congress, when faced with a spectacular sight you are usually speechless much less coherent enough to discuss it.

In conclusion, I would implore everyone to atleast try this once. I will leave you with a verse from a wonderful travel poem from Walt Whitman I was reading during new years eve. It seemed to match the mindset of a lone traveler.
We make trials of ourselves and invite men and women to hear,
We  say to ourselves, Remember, fear not, be candid, promulge the
body and the soul,
Dwell a while and pass on, be copious, temperate, chaste, magnetic,
And what you effuse may then return as the seasons return,
And may be just as much as the seasons.

New year's eve amplification

Not a long time ago, a good friend and a fellow blogger had posted the following question? Where will you be this 31st december? I am sure he got a lot of replies. Grand plans for the special day. People travelling to their favourite vacation spots or attending the hottest parties or hosting one of them.I am sure I will sound like a regular cynic when I say I don't understand the importance attached to this particular striking of 12. People will not be concerned if they had fun a week before or after it, but on that particular event in time they should be having the time of their lives. What I rarely hear from anyone is what they were doing  leading upto to that time or how much they enjoyed the weeks before and after. God forbid you are one of the people who had fun just before the special day you are considered stupid or crazy.

On the last day of my DC trip, during which there was 10 hours of walking involved, I was in no mood to walk anymore by 6pm. So it came as a simple choice for me to go directly to the airport before new year's eve instead of heading to a party. Spending a quite night with close friends or a good book would come before a noisy party for me anyday. Me being on a solo trip, the good book was my best option. While talking to people both before and after new years, I informed them of my pleasing plan of reading a good book with a hot coffee at the airport. I was a quite surprised then that my choice was called wierd, crazy, sad and worst of all philosophical. It baffled me that a friend of mine who had good plans on 1st jan was not satisfied that they had no plans on the special time. It made me laugh that my friend back in India had the worst new year's eve because he was made to stay back at home of no moon. Both of which are situations completely acceptable to me. But, my situation wasn't favoured by anyone I talked too. I think these two like many others were suffering from the new years eve amplification effect. Instead of concentrating on good times ahead they were fussing over a customary turning of the clock.

What happened to my plans you may ask? I did reach the airport 5 mins to new year's eve. And like I say, "When you really truly strive to be happy, even fate tickles you". Instead of just getting a comfortable spot to sip coffee  and read poetry, I got a seat that had a full view of all the planes taking off in different directions. Endless directions. Endless possibilities. I was once told as a kid that whatever you do on new year's eve you end up doing the rest of the year. I took it quite literally. Since then I have always strived to do what I love most during that time. If that means ditching a party in the terrace to read a book then so be it. So here I was reading a good book sipping hot coffee looking ahead at endless possibilities. That sure made me smile. And after all who doesnt like being happy all year ;).

I am sure whatever you just read is nothing original, but is nonetheless intented to put a point across. So as I sit here in the same airport getting ready to board a plane to chicago, here is  me hoping whatever you did during that so called special minute, it was something that made you happy, and maybe you can believe that something different no matter how insignificant it seems, did make others happy in its own way.